88-Year-Old Athgarvan Woman Stranded For 12 Hours After Fall At Home Due To Faulty Landline

Monday, 16 June 2025 14:56

By Martin Osborne

The woman, who lives independently in Athgarvan, lost her landline service on April 17.

An 88-year-old woman was left lying on the floor of her home for 12 hours after a fall - because her emergency alarm system had been out of service for nearly seven weeks due to an unresolved fault in the landline network, understood to stem from Eir-owned infrastructure.

The woman, who lives independently in Athgarvan, lost her landline service on April 17.

Despite being a Vodafone customer, the company relies on Eir for the fixed-line infrastructure, which has reportedly been the root cause of the fault.

Kfm understands that the fault involves technical works on a public road and tree trimming, and that an application for such work has to be submitted to Kildare County Council.

Kfm has contacted the Council to confirm the status of those works.

The issue turned critical on May 31, when the woman suffered a fall at home and was unable to call for help.

Her personal alarm system, operated by TASK Community Care and linked to the landline, had been inoperable since the line failure - leading to her being stranded for approximately 12 hours.

Vodafone said the matter has been escalated as "urgent".

Kfm understands that Eir is responsible for fixing the issue.

Kfm also understands that other elderly residents in the area are in a similar situation.

A standalone alarm system, with its own sim card, costs nearly €140 while the one connected to the landline costs around €70.

Kfm has contacted Eir for comment.

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